In this interview I am joined by Greg Kaminsky, host of the Occult of Personality podcast and author of ‘Pronaos: Reflections on the Preliminary Practices of Buddhist Tantra’.

In this episode, Greg details over twenty years of extensive occult studies, including his daily magickal practice regime, and reveals why an encounter with American born spiritual teacher Traktung Khepa Rinpoche, saw him leave the path of Western esotericism in favour of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

Greg shares just why Traktung Rinpoche impressed him so much, and contrasts the view of magic and entity binding in the occult and Buddhist traditions.

Greg also discusses his new book on ngondro, so-called preliminary practices involving hundreds of thousands of repetitions of special prayers and prostrations, and recounts the profound spiritual transformations that occurred when he himself took up this practice.

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Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/ep116-greg-kaminsky-occult-of-personality/

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

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Topics include:

00:00 - Intro

00:59 - Greg’s book on ngondro

04:04 - Upbringing and early mystical experiences

06:36 - Exploring Western Esotericism, Freemasonry, & Tarot

09:01 - Transformative kundalini experience on salvia divinorum

11:48 - Greg’s daily magickal practice regime and its results

16:41 - Siddhis and working with angelic entities

19:51- Binding spirits in tantra vs occultism

21:58 - Meeting Traktung Khepa Rinpoche

24:55 - Who is Traktung Khepa Rinpoche?

26:55 - Assessing the teacher

32:45 - An inability to follow instruction

33:49 - Teaching in casual situations

36:52 - Does Traktung Rinpoche have any teachers?

38:09 - Unseen teachers

41:23 - Is Traktung Rinpoche’s biography known?

43:13 - Is Traktung Rinpoche connected with the wider Tibetan Buddhist community?

46:22 - What is ngondro practice?

52:24 - Intensity of practice a key ingredient for transformation

56:27 - Physical injury as spiritual purification

01:02:01 - Sarno back pain and learning by experience

01:03:56 - Managing lyme disease

01:07:10 - Changes to Greg’s life after ngondro

01:09:35 - Greg’s daily practice

01:13:04 - Working for his guru and upcoming publishing projects

01:14:20 - The Grail legends and the spiritual path

01:20:27 - The place of failure

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To find our more about Greg, visit:

- https://harvard-ext.academia.edu/GregKaminsky

- http://occultofpersonality.net/

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For more interviews, videos, and more visit:

- www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James